Dr. James Gentile of the Hope College faculty has been appointed to the Committee on Undergraduate Science Education (CUSE), a standing committee of the Center for Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Education at the National Research Council in Washington, D.C.

Gentile is the dean for the natural sciences and the Kenneth G. Herrick Professor of Biology at Hope. His term on the committee will begin on Jan. 1, 1998, and continue through Dec. 31, 2000. For the next several years, CUSE will focus its attention on more effective preparation in science for undergraduates who will go on to careers as K-12 teachers; developing protocols and tools for more effective evaluation of undergraduate teaching by faculty in the nation's colleges and universities; increasing scientific literacy for all undergraduate students in the U.S.; and other projects related to improving science education. The CUSE committee of the NRC is affiliated with the National Academy of Sciences, and a substantial part of the membership of the committee is comprised of members of the National Academy. CUSE currently has a total of 14 members and is chaired by Dr. Marye Anne Fox, who is vice president for research at the University of Texas at Austin and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. The committee will increase to 16 members in 1998 and to 18 members by 2000. A member of the Hope faculty since 1976, Gentile has been active nationally and internationally in discussing issues related to science education. He is a member of the Executive Committee of "Project Kaleidoscope," a Washington, D.C.-based initiative focusing on identifying and promoting effective models for undergraduate mathematics and science education. He is also a council member for the Council on Undergraduate Research. His research in genetic toxicology has resulted in more than 60 papers during the past 15 years. A past president of the Environmental Mutagen Society, he is the executive managing editor of the international journal "Mutation Research." Gentile is a consultant for the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences, and is serving, at the appointment of Governor John Engler, on Michigan's State Hazardous Site Assessment Committee. He is a consultant with the EPA's Office on Substances/Test Rules Development Branch, and a past consultant to the EPA's Science Advisory Board. He is also a scientific program advisor to the Murdock Trust in Vancouver, Wash.